


Duet

by TeaJay



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 03:30:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8355349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaJay/pseuds/TeaJay
Summary: Raina has a proposition for Skye- the company is up to some shady behavior the Rising Tide would be interested and they have some of her work that she would like back.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TLvop](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TLvop/gifts).



> This was based on part of the prompt for AU of Skye &/ Raina set to "Somethin' Bad"

The words popped up across the screen of the encrypted forum.

Raina: I HAVE INFORMATION THE RISING TIDE WILL WANT TO KNOW  
Skye: WHO IS THIS? HOW DID YOU GET THIS ACCESS?  
A FRIEND. I HAVE PROOF THAT A CORPORATION THE RISING TIDE HAS BEEN LOOKING INTO  
Skye: AND WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE YOU? HOW DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT US?  
Raina: I DID MY RESEARCH. IT WOULD NOT BENEFT ME TO GIVE YOU FALSE INFORMATION  
Skye: HOW DID YOU GET THIS INFORMATION THEN? WHO IS IT ABOUT?  
Raina: I WORK FOR THEM AND THEY STOLE SOMETHING THAT WAS MINE. WE NEED TO MEET FIRST BEFORE I CAN TELL YOU THAT. I NEED TO KNOW YOU UNDERSTAND THE SITUAUTION AFTER ALL HOW DO I KNOW I CAN TRUST YOU?  
Skye: RIGHT WE MEET IN A DARK ALLEY SO YOU CAN LURE ME OFF TO YOUR LAIR? I WATCH CATFISH HOW STUPID DO YOU THINK I AM?  
Raina: OF COURSE NOT. A PUBLIC PLACE- THE RUNNER BEAN HAS PRIVATE TABLES IN THE BACK. I'LL BE IN THE FLOWER DRESS.  
Skye: NOW IT SOUNDS LIKE WE'RE MEETING FOR A FIRST DATE.  
Raina: WHO SAYS WE'RE NOT? ITS AS GOOD A COVER AS ANY. TOMORROW 4PM AT THE RUNNER BEAN. 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Skye hefted her messenger bag as she approached the coffee shop she wasn't sure this was a good idea but the idea of human experimentation and cyerbernetic soldiers possibly even tied to the US military was too much to pass up. If that was going on it had to stopped and exposed- people had the right to know. And after all she'd contacted and confronted people before about information it was quite possible the woman was for real. The bell on the door jingled merrily as she pushed it open and the rich coffee smell hit her. She couldn't afford Runner Bean coffee prices on a regular basis but she decided she could justify this as the price of business.  
While waiting in line she surreptitiously scanned the mostly empty room for her contact- couple playing footsie in the front window- no, dude in hipster glasses frantically typing away on his laptop with several empty cups next to him-no, a young woman in a black and white dress with a flower print-yes.  
"Can I take your order?"  
Skye quickly ordered and while waiting for her latte she studied the other woman. She was petite and dark haired with brown skin about her own age. She had clearly spotted her as well giving her a once over and a sly little smile. Skye picked up her caramel latte and walked over keeping an eye out for any kind of trap.  
"Hello, Skye," she said. "Please sit." She gestured to the other side of her booth. Skye slid into the seat watching her warily as the other woman took a sip of what looked like green tea.  
"Since you seem to know my name what should I call you?'  
"Well since it's a first date I suppose that calls for first names. You can call me Raina."  
"Well Rain a what did you call me here to tell me? You seem to know a lot about the Rising Tide's interests but I don't know much about your supposed company's behavior."  
"Right to business? Well, as I told you I work for a large tech corporation that creates prosthetics and other means to... enhance... human performance. I created a chemical compound that can repair muscle and ligament after an injury- it would be very lucrative in the pro sports field. When I submitted it to my bosses they told me that it wasn't a viable product and I got suspicious because there would be a huge market for it in professional sports. No more waiting around for a ligament to heal or having career ending damage. I started looking deeper and found they were attempting to use it to not just repair muscle but to enhance it past human limits in the hopes of getting a future contract with the US military and other paramilitary organizations. It appears this is not the first time they have tried this either- they have built prosthetic limbs that are stronger and faster than human limbs and attempted to use them to create "super soldiers" if you will. Now my compound only works if there is damage to repair first though so they are planning on repeatedly injuring their subjects and overdosing them with my compound to get the muscle to build up past where it had been originally and test their strength."  
"So you want us to rescue them?"  
"No-"  
"What? But we have to we can't leave them there."  
"They don't seem to have started any actual human trials yet- they're still doing animal testing to make sure it's worth the money. So far it's been successful in mice and rabbits though so I believe that they will start human trials very soon. No what I want from you is retrieve my material so I can take it somewhere that will better appreciate its lucrative and legitimate possibilities.  
"And it's creator?"  
"Of course. I'll be bringing them a very profitable discovery."  
"And what does Rising Tide get out of doing this for you? So far it sounds like you want to hire a thief."  
"Well removing the compound and the documentation of its formulation will put an end to their experimentation plans for quite some time possibly forever. And of course the Rising Tide would have access to all the documentation of what they'd done. I imagine that the FBI would like to know what they are getting up to over there especially if they can avoid bad press. Could get you an 'in' and goodness knows the Rising Tide could use a little positive credit."  
"They were going to sell to the US government. No we have to expose them- we can't let them sweep this under the rug and hide it from the citizens. They have the know what was going on and hold them accountable. There might even be past victims of their experiments who will be owed civil suits for what was done to them."  
"Suit yourself. So are you in?"  
Skye knew she should think about it but as soon as she knew it involved the possibility of enhanced humans that she was in.  
"I'm in." She pulled out her laptop. "But you need to tell me more about who we're going after."  
"Cybertek."  
"Cybertek. The Cybertek?"  
"I told you it was big."  
"Wow. So do you have details you can give me on the security and layout?"  
"Yes," She passed Skye a flash drive."This a blueprint of the building and information on the type of systems used to secure their doors. That's what I needed you for- I have only partial access and the security is state of the art."  
"And they'll just let me in will they? Somehow I doubt they'll buy the 'just on a first date' cover."  
"No only employees have access to the research building its off limits to everyone else. Except of course potential employees interviewing for a high level position."  
"And one of these just happened to open up did it?"  
"It will." Raina gave another sly smile and Skye wondered just how she planned to get rid of a coworker. "Don't worry I'll only get him fired and he deserves it- he still calls me 'Flowers' and expects me to fetch him hi coffee. He'd go down with the company anyway".  
"Do you have any dirt on him?"  
"Nothing the higher-ups don't already know. But I'll find something. Or create it if necessary. It wouldn't be too hard to tamper with his computer while he's ogling the new intern."  
"Alright lets go over those layout plans then."  
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Raina gave Skye a cat that got the canary smile as she slipped into the seat across from her.  
"As of next week Cybertek will be accepting applications for a new project manager for their technology department."  
"Mary Wang, graduate from MIT, is looking for an exciting new job in the field of cybernetics."  
She spun her computer to show Raina her new resume she had created complete with a headshot of her in nerdy hipster glasses. Raina bent forward to read the document.  
"Perfect. This will absolutely catch their attention they won't be able to resist calling you in. Submit it early but no so early it looks like you were tipped off about the job opening." She took a sip of her tea with a satisfied smile.  
"I've been thinking about the distraction we will need for me to have the time to get in and out of the storage room. It will take at least 6 minutes to get there and back-we will need at least 10 minutes to also get through the doors, open the safe, and find the right documents as well as your compound."  
"Can you hack in that quickly? Won't it take time to run the possible codes?"  
"I won't need to- you said they had a local network system that controls the doors so once they leave the interview room I will start the program on my laptop to run while I'm getting there and program it to open the doors exactly 3 minutes after it starts. If we get the timing right it should work out. What can you do that would give me at least that amount of time? Something like pulling the fire alarm wouldn't work because it wouldn't give me the time alone I need- they would get suspicious if I didn't evacuate with them."  
"I think I can set off a distraction in the lab-something that would get them to come to make sure we haven't destroyed anything valuable."  
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Skye straightened her tie and pushed up her glasses before striding into the lobby and up to the front desk.  
"Hello, Mary Wang to see Dr. Phillips and Dr. Kroger for an interview at 3 today?" She smiled brightly at the receptionist.  
"Hello Ms. Wang welcome to Cybertek. If you could please sign and show a photo ID I'll have a visitor's badge printed right out for you."  
Skye handed over her fake Mary Wang ID and signed the  
Skye: "I'm in it's go time."  
Raina:"15 minutes."  
Skye stepped out of the elevator and pretended to follow the signs to the conference room on the far end of the hall even though she had memorized the layout over the last couple of days. She was met at the door by two middle aged white men in lab coats who introduced themselves as Dr. Phillips and Dr. Kroger and ushered her inside.  
She sat at the table placing her laptop case on the floor subtly glancing at her watch- 10 minutes. 

Right at the fifteen minute mark there was a knock at the door and a distressed looking Raina stuck her in head.  
"I'm sorry to bother you but there has been an accident in the lab. There appears to have been some damage to the equipment and I think you should come check it out before we move anything or go on working. If the inspectors come and find out we didn't follow proper protocol for an incident report..."  
"Yes yes of course," said Dr. Kroger. "I'm so sorry Ms. Wang but we do adhere to very strict safety protocol here I'm sure you understand."  
"Oh yes please take care of it."  
"Please help yourself to the coffee or tea while you wait. We will try not to take too much time."  
"Take all the time you need."  
As soon as Raina and the men left Skye whipped out her laptop and pulled up the program she had developed for looping the security feed cameras. The camera system they used was good but one she was familiar with and had tampered with before- she had it running a looped version of the hallway views in under 2 minutes. Next was to get into the security system the doors and alarms were hooked up to and run the codebreaking software she'd developed. She'd tested it multiple times and it should finish in time for her to make it to the door. That set she slipped out of the room and strode purposefully down the hallway- if anyone asked she was looking for the bathroom.  
She didn't see anyone until she exited the stairwell onto the floor below where a frazzled lab tech ignored her as she rushed past to get to the elevators presumably to assist with whatever disaster Raina had created. She got to the first set of doors and entered Raina's code to get through to the "official" archives where they kept their legitimate work. She hurried through the room and to the smaller door in the back. The light on the keypad was still red as she approached and she worried that her program had failed without her monitoring it or unexpected hiccup had come up and it would take too long. She glanced over her shoulder and saw a couple security guards making their rounds, chatting and sticking their heads in the doors as they passed to check on everyone inside. Her breath caught- they were supposed to still be on the other side of the building according to their usual schedule but something perhaps even the "accident" in the lab had them coming around early. The red light blinked at her taunting her as she tried not to move and draw attention to herself through the glass window in the door she'd just come through. As they checked another door down the hall the light suddenly turned green and she heard the lock click inside. She quickly slipped in letting out her breath in relief as the door swung closed behind her and she was in the dimly lit storage area for Cybertek's less legitimate operations.  
On one side of the wall there was a large refrigerated case full of vials and containers and the rest of the room was filled with file cabinets. Raina had given her a rough idea of where she had seen them take samples of her compound when she had been trying to figure out what had was going on but she'd never been able to get in. She would have to find the documentation herself. She didn't need everything only enough to prove that they had indeed been doing unethical testing and get the rest exposed.  
She rushed over to the case and began search the left side where Raina had said she had seen them go. There were numerous suspicious looking substance she would have liked to investigate further but finally she found the little blue vial and placed it carefully in the protective pouch she had tucked into her messenger bag. She moved over to the cabinets checking her watch- nearly ten minutes was up she would have to move quickly and hope that Raina had created a large enough distraction to keep them busy for some time. She started opening drawers methodically riffling through the folders- many looked like they were attempts at superhuman enhancements but weren't blatantly unethical at first glance anyway. She was on the third drawer of the second file cabinet when she found a file labeled "Deathlok" detailing experimentation done on an unnamed injured government agent and much later on a man named "Mike Peterson" this must have been the older case that Raina mentioned. She grabbed out the folder and carefully tucked it into a hidden pocket in her bag. It appeared that the folder were going in order of date so she moved to the opposite end of the cabinets to find the recent experiments done with Raina's compound. She found it a few folder in and added it to her bag. She looked at her watch again nearly 15 minutes now she'd have to hurry back and hope she didn't run into anyone in the hallway.  
She peered out of the window in the outside door but the security guards appeared to have moved on and while she saw some more scientists through the doors they were busy with their work and didn't look up as she passed. She made it to the stairwell and rushed up the stairs to the next floor. She walked again back down the hallway again pretending to look like she belonged there and hadn't just been pilfering secret documents proving the company was doing shady experiments. She returned the camera's to their normal recording cycle and closed down all of the programs she had running.  
When Dr. Phillips and Dr. Kroger returned she was sipping a cup of coffee and checking Mary Wang's email- she got a lot of emails from MIT asking for money for the alumni association.  
"We're very sorry for the delay Ms. Wang. Let us continue." Dr. Kroger moved to sit down.  
"I'm sorry while you were gone I actually received a call from another potential employer offering me a job and I accepted. It's closer to my family and that's very important to me. I apologize for wasting your time."  
"Oh no, Ms. Wang. Are you sure there's no offer we could make you to chnage your mind? We rally are very interested in your work."  
"I'm afraid not it's just a better location. Thank you for your consideration."  
She walked out of the room as quickly as she could without seeing suspicious and had to keep herself from gripping her bag too tightly as she took the elevator down and passed the receptionist. She didn't relax until she had driven her van a few blocks away to park in a lot outside a big box store. She took off her glasses and tie and let herself take a deep breath sinking into her seat. She pulled out her phone to text Raina.  
Skye: Success!  
Raina: I gave my 2 weeks notice over the "incident". See you at 4 at Runner Bean.  
She then climbed into the back with her bag and carefully took out her laptop and the folders. She photographed each one and then scanned them into her computer copying the files to two external flash drives- she was taking no chances with the information. As she copied them she read them closely horrified at what they had done and were planning on doing- experimenting on people and essentially selling them to the highest bidder. It was abhorrent especially when it could have been used for good. She uploaded the information to the Rising Tide website and released it to the network. Everyone within the community would have access and it would spread to other websites and news sources as it traveled around. She would tip off the FBI in a couple of hours once it had time to spread- before Cybertek would find out and have time to destroy any incriminating documents but the information would have spread far enough that they couldn't squash it and sweep it under the rug.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Raina raised her glass.  
"To getting what we deserve." Behind her the newscaster on the tv in the bar reported that the CEO of Cybertek was being investigated and the whole building was being searched.  
Skye clinked her beer against Raina's red wine.  
"Have you found any new job offers yet?"  
"I may have some things lined up... I should probably stay out of the business for a little while until this blows over so no one is suspicious over me jumping ship."  
"Not a bad idea."  
"What about you?"  
"Well my van is portable so I'll go where the next Rising Tide call is- or an incident of enhanced people."  
'So you'll be gone?"  
"I could come back from time to time."  
"I'd like that."


End file.
